Stand pipe structure



Nov. 28, 1967 J. ALLWOOD 3,355,696

S TAND PIPE STRUCTURE Filed NOV. 16, 1965 F75. L F I515- //V YEA/TOR. 010/ A41. W000 QM Q United States Patent 3,355,696 STAND PIPE STRUCTURE John Allwood, Parramatta, New South Wales, Australia,

assignor to Machinery Specialties Pty. Limited, Villawooil, near Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, a corporation of New South Wales Filed Nov. 16, 1965, Ser. No. 508,089

Claims priority, application Australia, Jan. 21, 1965,

4 Claims. (Cl. 339-) This invention relates to irrigation sprayers wherein a water delivery pipe having spray outlets spaced along its length is supported by self-propelling trucks and carried by them so that it notates as a radius about a stand-pipe which supplies water to the delivery pipe.

Sprayers of the kind in question have usually included a wheeled truck supporting the radially inner end of the delivery pipe and straddling the stand-pipe.

It has been found however that such prior known arrangements for the support of the radially inner end of the delivery pipe have been unsatisfactory, because of the need to provide elaborate circular tracks for that truck to run on if it is to operate in a reasonably smooth and trouble-free manner. Also difiiculties are experienced in maintaining electricity supplies (as needed when the self-propelling trucks are electrically driven) because of the tendency for the inner end truck to wander when the sprayer is in use.

The object of the present invention is to provide a stand-pipe structure which is adapted to feed both water and electricity to the sprayer and which eliminates the need for a wheeled truck to support the radially inner end of the delivery pipe.

The invention consists in a stand-pipe structure comprising a fixed water supply pipe including an upwardly directed pipe end-portion, a rotatable hollow delivery head integral with or adapted to be liquid tightly secured to at least one radially extending Water delivery pipe and having a downwardly directed spigot adapted to be sleeved Within or about said pipe end portion, liquid sealing means between said pipe end-portion and said spigot, a fixed, tubular conduit for electricity supply conductors including an upwardly directed conduit end-portion extending co-axially through said spigot and protruding from the top of said head, a gland adapted to prevent liquid leaking from the head where it is pierced by said conduit, a thrust bearing for said head preventing upward movement thereof, a plurality of slip-rings on but insulated from said conduit above said head and adapted to be connected to the said supply conductors respectively and a plurality of wiper contacts mounted on said head and making contact with said slip-rings respectively and adapted for connection to electricity delivery conductors extending from them.

By way of example, a stand-pipe structure according to the invention is described hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of a stand pipe structure when viewed longitudinally of a delivery pipe supported by it.

FIG. 2 is a partly-sectioned side elevation of the standpipe structure of FIG. 1 when viewed transversely of the water delivery pipe.

The illustrated stand-pipe structure comprises a water supply pipe 3 including an upwardly directed end-portion 3A. The water supply pipe 3 is partly embedded in a concrete block 4 which is almost completely buried in the ground and which thereby serves to fixedly support the water supply pipe 3.

The upwardly directed end-portion 3A of the water supply pipe 3 is preferably braced against any external forces which may be applied to it by means of buttress plates 5 which are Welded to the pipe end-portion 3A and to a base plate 6 bolted to the block 4.

The supply pipe 3 is suitably flanged at 7 and 8 for connection to a water main or pump delivery pipe or the like and to the supply pipe end-portion 3A respectively.

A hollow fabricated steel delivery head 9 is rotatably supported (by means described in more detail below) and includes a downwardly directed spigot 10 sleeved within the supply pipe end-portion 3A. Water flowing through the supply pipe 3 is fed into the interior of the head 9 and thence into the water delivery pipe 11 of an irrigation sprayer. The head 9 is adapted for connection to two such delivery pipes extending in opposite directions (by means of flanges 12 and 13) but is illustrated as supporting only one pipe, the second outlet from the head 9 being closed by a cover plate 14.

The water supplied to the head 9 is prevented from leaking from the upper end of the pipe end-portion 3A by means of conventional annular liquid seals 15 and 16 between the delivery pipe end-portion 3A and spigot 10 respectively.

A fixed tubular conduit 17 for electricity supply conductors pierces the pipe end-portion 3A below the spigot 10 and includes an upper conduit end-portion 17A which extends coaxially through the spigot 10 and protrudes from the top of the head 19. A conventional gland 18 is situated on the head 9 to prevent leakage at the point Where the head is pierced by the conduit end-portion 17A without impairing the ability of the head 9 to rotate about the conduit end-portion 17A as axis.

It will be seen that the pressure of liquid within the head 9 tends to lift the head but such movement is prevented by means of a thrust bearing Within a bearing housing 19 on the conduit portion 17A. In other examples of the invention suitable thrust bearings may be situated in housings on the spigot 10.

A plurality of slip rings 20 are fixed to the conduit end-portion 17A Within a slip ring housing 21 on the head 9. Also within the housing 21, a plurality of wiper contacts 22 are provided which bear against the respective slip rings 20. Thus, electricity supply conductors extending through the conduit 17 may be made-off to the slip rings 20 in the conventional manner for the transfer of electricity to delivery conductors extending from the respective wiper contacts 22 to the truck motors of the irrigation sprayer. Preferably, the said delivery conductors are protected by means of a conduit tube 23 or the like.

The illustrated stand-pipe structure is Well adapted for use as a component of the irrigation sprayers described in the provisional specification of our Patent application of even date for a patent of addition to Patent No. 227,- 737. Thus, the conduit 17 may extend from a weatherproof cubicle mounted on the base plate 6 and adapted to contain the speed control means for the outer end truck motor and ancillary electrical equipment described in said provisional specification.

What I claim is:

1. A stand-pipe structure comprising a fixed water supply pipe including an upwardly directed pipe end-portion, a rotatable hollow delivery head integral with or adapted to be liquid tightly secured to at least one radially extending Water delivery pipe and having a downwardly directed spigot adapted to be sleeved within or about said pipe end-portion, liquid sealing means between said pipe end-portion and said spigot, a fixed, tubular conduit for electricity supply conductors including an upwardly conduit end-portion extending coaxially through said spigot and protruding from the top of said head, a gland adapted to prevent liquid leaking from the head where it is pierced by said conduit, a thrust bearing for said head preventing upward movement thereof, a plurality of slip-rings on but insulated from said conduit above said head and adapted to be connected to the said supply conductors respectively and a plurality of wiper contacts mounted on said head and making contact with said slip-rings respectively and adapted for connection to electricity delivery conductors extending from them.

2. A stand-pipe structure according to claim 1 wherein said thrust bearing is such as to transfer thrust from the delivery head to said conduit.

3, A stand-pipe structure according to either claim 1 or claim 2 wherein said slip-rings and said wiper contacts are housed in a weather-proof housing on said head.

4. A stand-pipe stmcture according to any one of the preceding claims wherein said water delivery pipe ex- 4 tends through a concrete block embedded in the ground and said pipe end-portion is braced by a plurality of buttresses extending upwardly from said block.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,316,065 4/1943 Hapgood 3395 2,331,615 10/1943 Meyer 339-5 2,473,526 6/1949 Hood et al. 339-147 2,773,247 12/1956 Erhardt 339-5 MARVIN A. CHAMPION, Primary Examiner.

R. S. STROBEL, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A STAND-PIPE STRUCTURE COMPRISING A FIXED WATER SUPPLY PIPE INCLUDING AN UPWARDLY DIRECTED PIPE END-PORTION, A ROTATABLE HOLLOW DELIVERY HEAD INTEGRAL WITH OR ADAPTED TO BE LIQUID TIGHTLY SECURED TO AT LEAST ONE RADIALLY EXTENDING WATER DELVIERY PIPE AND HAVING A DOWNWARDLY DIRECTED SPIGOT ADAPTED TO BE SLEEVED WITHIN OR ABOUT SAID PIPE END-PORTION, LIQUID SEALING MEANS BETWEEN SAID PIPE END-PORTION AND SAID SPIGOT, A FIXED, TUBULAR CONDUIT FOR ELECTRICITY SUPPLY CONDUCTORS INCLUDING AN UPWARDLY CONDUIT END-PORTION EXTENDING COAXIALLY THROUGH SAID SPIGOT AND PROTRUDING FROM THE TOP OF SAID HEAD, A GLAND ADAPTED TO PREVENT LIQUID LEAKING FROM THE HEAD 